Mark McHugh among four players to quit Donegal panel

Mark McHugh won an All Star during Donegal's All-Ireland-winning 2012 campaign

2012 All Star Mark McHugh is one of a group of four players to have left the Donegal senior football panel.

Gary McFadden, Anton McFadden and Thomas McKinley are also understood to have told management that they do not want to be a part of the panel.

None of the three started Donegal's Allianz Football League Division 2 final defeat to Monaghan on Sunday. Mark McHugh came on as a substitute in the first half.

A Donegal County Board spokesman told RTÉ Sport that he was “stunned” by reports of the players’ departures. “We had no warning of it,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman said that County Board had not received any confirmation of the players’ departures, but that he was aware of a report suggesting that McHugh had left the panel, and that “those three [McHugh, McKinley and Gary McFadden] names have been mentioned”.

The Donegal News quoted Donegal selector Damian Diver as confirming that McHugh had left the panel.

"He just wasn’t enjoying it and wanted to take time out," Diver was reported to have said.